1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to musical instruments and, more particularly, to control of percussion instruments such as cymbals as used in conjunction with drum sets and the like.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Drummers and other percussionists often use cymbals and other resonating structures which make sound when struck. Many percussionists perform using an array of percussion instruments arranged within the percussionist""s reach; the most common configuration is the drum set. The cymbals are played in a manner similar to drums and are struck repeatedly by a drumstick or similar instrumentality specifically designed to render sounds from vibrations propagating within the cymbal. Some musical situations require that the cymbal vibrations and sound be muffled or dampened.
In the prior art, damping cymbal vibrations and stopping the vibrational movement of the cymbal was most often accomplished by squeezing the nearest edge of the cymbal between the thumb and fingers. This method for damping or quieting a cymbal""s vibration provides an aesthetically desirable characteristic of muting the cymbals"" sound without creating a dissonant clanking or clanging tone before silence is achieved. One drawback of using the prior art squeezing method is that one of the drummer""s hands must be occupied in performing this squeezing/muting step and, preferably, the drummer has moved or changed grip on the drumstick, such that the thumb and fingers are available for squeezing. This rather awkward squeezing movement may undesirably detract from the percussionist""s performance, e.g., on other percussion instruments arranged nearby. This method for cymbal damping also is not ideal in that a pinched cymbal continues to resonate for a time, although the resonance does decay more quickly to silence than for an undamped or un-pinched cymbal.
Other prior art musical instrument assemblies for use with percussion equipment have accomplished stopping the vibrational movement of the cymbal, but customarily introduce drawbacks of their own. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,696 to R. H. Alexis, discloses a cymbal stand and an assembly including a hemispherically shaped cymbal damper 26 mounted beneath the cymbal on a stand and positioned to be actuated by foot pedal 28. Damper 26 is used, preferably in conjunction with cymbal striker 19 to achieve what is described as a novel effect. Damper 26 is not capable of quickly or immediately muting the sound of cymbal 10, however.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,254 to J. P. Cruz, discloses a damper assembly for a cymbal including a hand-operated actuator 42 which effectively pinches cymbal 12 at a single point along the cymbal periphery by operation of opposing members 26 and 28. In essence, the cymbal damper assembly of Cruz substitutes a requirement that the drummer use one hand to manipulate remote actuator 42 for the traditional requirement that the drummer use one hand to squeeze opposite surfaces of the cymbal itself.
It is well known to modulate the tone of a cymbal by striking it with a second and opposable cymbal operable by a foot pedal or the like; such assemblies are customarily known as xe2x80x9chi-hatsxe2x80x9d, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,014 to Ross and U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,733 to Jacobson. Each of these prior art references disclose a slightly different take on the standard opposable cymbal hi-hat mechanism operable by a foot pedal or the like. Hi-hats produce a distinctive transient clang sound upon forcibly closing the opposable cymbals upon one another. This clanging operation is to be contrasted with muting the vibration of a single cymbal which, while vibrating, emits the characteristic cymbal tone.
There have been many other percussion instrument assemblies used to mute or damp vibrations. Examples of more modern prior art attempts include U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,819, to Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,980 to Arteaga, U.S. Pat. No. 5, 959,227 to Shapiro, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,197 to Allen, all of which disclose a number of mechanisms for damping drum heads, cymbals and the like. None of these, however,. have achieved the cross purposes of permitting the drummer""s hands to remain free while providing a satisfactory cymbal muting action with a standard (e.g., crash or ride) cymbal.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned difficulties.
The invention provides an apparatus and method for quickly and effectively dampening vibration of a resonating instrument such as a cymbal, cow bell, wood block or the like, in a controlled manner. The invention mounts a vibration dampening article adjacent the resonating instrument whereby the vibration dampening article engages the resonating instrument at a plurality of points simultaneously to absorb and deaden vibration.
According to a preferred embodiment, the cymbal damping apparatus of the present invention is mounted onto a structure resembling a drummer""s hi-hat cymbal stand and substitutes a lower damping member in place of what, for a hi-hat, would customarily be the bottom cymbal. In the foot actuated cymbal damping apparatus of the present invention, the purpose of the present invention is to damp or deaden the cymbal""s ring or vibration via application of a vibration absorbing padded damping surface to the peripheral edge of the cymbal, which then immediately absorbs and dampens the vibrations and sound of the cymbal.
The lower damping member is preferably made from a frusto-conical frame having a centrally disposed mounting collar at it""s center; the collar has an axially aligned center hole and is connected to a circular rim having a substantially larger outer diameter via a plurality of radially aligned spokes disposed at an angle to connect circular rim to the mounting collar. A substantially circular hoop is attached to the rim and atop the hoop are a number of pads of vibration damping material, preferably made of padded terry-cloth fabric. By engaging a cymbal near its periphery with a plurality of spaced padded damping pads, any cymbal vibration is immediately and instantaneously damped to silence without a metal-on-metal sound as is normally heard when a hi-hat is closed.
Accordingly, the invention dampens vibration of a resonating article using pressure from a drummer""s foot rather than using a clasping by the drummer""s hand. Moreover, the arrangement of the vibration dampening article provides simultaneous engagement of the resonating member at a plurality of points, preferably near the member""s periphery.